Breaking Free to Chase Your Dreams

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortez. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

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on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortez. Welcome back to

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the Working on Purpose Show. Thanks
for tuning in again this week. I'm

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your host, Elise Cortez, joining
you live this week from Hermiston, Oregon,

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where I'm visiting family. If you've
been tuning in for a while,

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you know this program is all about
helping people create more meaningful and productive personal

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and work lives, and equipping leaders
inside organizations to cultivate meaning and purpose that

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elicits passion inspired contribution, innovation,
and persevering performance. So I talk with

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my guest to draw on their expertise
and share my own experience consulting speaking developing

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workforces across the globe. Every week. In these conversations, it is my

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intention that you drive value you can
immediately apply to your personal and work lives.

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So I invite you to listen in
from that vantage point, and it

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is my fervent hope that you come
alive with the possibility of living with passion,

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working on purpose, and are inspired
to discover for yourself just how big

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and fulfilling your life and work can
be. And if you do catch fire

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from anything you hear, reach out
and tell me about it I want to

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hear. You can email me at
a lease at a least Cortez dot com

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or use the contact b feature on
my website at a lease Cortez dot com

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to message me. When you do
reach out, tell me how I can

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help. Whether you want to join
the distribution list to stay informed about these

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radio shows, you want to learn
about joining a catch fire online inspiration,

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accountability or mastermind community, or you
want information on my purpose driven leadership programs

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for individuals or companies. Happy to
talk with you about anything you need.

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Glad we're connected. Now back to
the program with us this week is Brandy

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Nice, and emerging speaker entering a
new chapter of her life, having recently

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begun her journey in helping and encouraging
struggling individuals. Brandy spent the next twenty

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years facing fears, overcoming personal obstacles, and improving her self image. She

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has navigated a successful career in the
finance industry and has discovered a bigger calling

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for herself and service of her one
precious life and all she's lived through so

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far. She is now utilizing her
passion and experiences to help facilitate healing and

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empower others to overcome their own fears, shame, doubt, and daily trials.

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She noticed today from Mason, Texas, Brandy, Welcome to Working on

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Purpose. Hello there, it is
so great to have you with us,

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Brandy. I can't wait to share
you and want you're up to with our

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listeners. And you have a very
very unique story with the intention of sharing

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it to really help your audience's access, hope, courage, and inspiration to

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pursue their happiness and really chase their
dreams. Of course I'm in for that,

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right How can I say no to
that? So let's talk about how

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we actually met. So I was
out. I always like to tell our

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listeners how it is that my guests
come into our lives and ours In our

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case, I think was really pretty
magical. So I was out speaking in

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Southern Texas on November second. I
was talking about passion, inspiration, purpose,

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purpose, ry, and leadership.
And you were in the audience that

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day. So first, let's just
talk about for you what happened for you

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where? What was it about what
we talked about that seemed to grab you

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well? The Leadership launch. I
was there that day, and I was

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actually hesitant to attend when a co
worker asked me if I'd like to go.

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At first, I thought no,
I associated it with management, which

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was not something that I wanted to
pursue. But I went and I was

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sitting in the audience that day,
and you were the first speaker, and

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I remember being drawn in by your
enthusiasm, and I just loved your perspective

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and your outlook on life. And
I was just on the edge of my

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seat listening to you talk. But
I remember the moment when the light bulb

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came on for me, and it
was when you began to differentiate between leaders

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and managers, and you asked,
what if we lead by looking for what's

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right and strong in someone, by
looking for what lights someone up, by

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empowering people and helping them find their
purpose. And I thought, this is

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it I want to do this.
I want to live with this passion and

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I want to help others, and
I just remember being so excited. Oh

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you know, And I remember afterwards
when I opened the conversation up to the

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floor of I think it was like
eighty five women and said, so,

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you know, way in when'd you
get from the conversation? You did say

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that you know you had gotten something
from it, which I thought was beautiful.

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And I came up afterwards and asked
if I could hug you because I

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just knew there was a connection there. And I'll tell you, Brandy,

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when you then followed up with your
communication through LinkedIn and you told me what

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it transpired in your life, it's
like, I am not letting this woman

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go. She's up to something.
And I just was so blown away and

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moved by what you wrote. And
we'll talk a little bit about that here

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in just a second, but I
just really want to acknowledge you for being

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willing to come into that space be
so real, so powerful, so authentic,

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and frankly vulnerable. Well, it's
difficult, but having someone as encouraging

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and inspiring as yourself makes it that
much easier. Well, well, i'll

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tell you, you know you and
I have talked about this before. I

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want you, I want you and
any of our listeners to understand that our

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interaction really is what inspired me to
start my nonprofit called Purpose on Fire,

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Because what I really understood, Brandy, is that you were up to something.

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You were going to go out there
on a whole new journey and a

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limb of your life. And I
was so worried, Brandy, that you

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were so excited did and I so
got that, and I was so afraid

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that if you went back into life
without help, that that flame would get

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snuffed out, and that you wouldn't
be able to really make your dream come

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to fruition. And that's what Purpose
on Fire does. It helps people who've

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who've figured out their their purpose to
help them bring it into the world and

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make it productive and meaningful and stick. And so I want you, I

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want you to always understand how much
I appreciate you for coming into my life.

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Well, thank you. It means
a lot. Well, you're welcome,

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You're very welcome. It's a it's
a great relationship that we've we've come

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in. It's just because the two
of us were willing to open our mouths

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and share right absolutely and you know, I think we've technically known each other

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just a little over two months,
is that right? That's right, And

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this relationship has become one, it
has developed tremendously and it's become one that

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I cherish because just in the short
time that we've begun to talk, I'm

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maintained focus. I'm able to chase
those life goals and it helps me put

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aside the normal self sabotage or any
negative thoughts that tend to sneak in.

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Yeah, and you know, we
all need help. And to that end,

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you know, when you think about
what we go through in a life,

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and I like to be able to
position that those difficulties, whether it's

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just difficulty focusing or whatever it might
be, or actually real adversity that happens

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to us. One of the things
that I really appreciable. One of my

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guests that came before sometime last year, Steve Gava Torta. He talks about

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the importance of embracing adversity because it
helps us become the people were meant to

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become. And I really think there's
something too that. And you have gone

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through some atrocious adversity, and I
really believe, Brandy that the way you

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have navigated that, the way that
you have responded to that is what has

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made you become who you are able
to you to be able to stand in

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the space that you're in. So
I want to be able to give you

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the chance to be able to tell
your story what happened to you about eighteen

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nineteen years ago when you were about
eighteen years old. And listeners, when

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she does tell her story, please
understand what she's about to share is is

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pretty tough to hear. But it's
important that she shares her story. So

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Brandy, tell us what happened to
you some eighteen nineteen years ago. As

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you mentioned, I was eighteen years
old. I had moved away from home

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after high school for college. Growing
up, I was a small town girl.

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I grew up in a place where
you didn't have to lock your front

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doors. You left your keys in
the ignition of your car. I'm not

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saying it's smart, but I basically
lived a sheltered life. And I moved

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to the city for school and I
was working at a bank. One evening,

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I was leading work and I called
my boyfriend who was at my apartment.

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He was making dinner for me that
evening and so I called to let

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him know that I was wrapping up
at work and I would be headed his

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way. And so I walked out
of the building and I got in my

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truck and drove out of the parking
garage and I made it about three blocks.

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When I stopped at a red light, there was what I thought to

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be nobody around, so you can
imagine I was startled when there was a

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knock on my window and two men
were there. In a matter of seconds,

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they were in my vehicle with me, and they had a gun.

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I will never forget the moment that
the gun was put to my head and

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the hammer was pulled back, and
my body just went into shock. My

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mind started ray sing. I started
thinking what should I do? What can

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I do? I saw no way
out, and so I began to pray.

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This moment is very It's one of
those things that if you don't feel

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it and you don't witness it,
it's very hard to describe. But it's

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remarkable to me, so I want
to share this. When I prayed,

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this warm sensation took over my body. It was like a warm bath,

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and I felt it truly like a
fire. It started at the top of

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my head and it went down to
my toes. And believe it or not,

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with that moment, there was this
sense of clarity and I knew that

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I may see some very very horrible
things, but I believed at that moment

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that I was going to come out
alive. And so the tears started flowing,

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no doubt, but mentally, I
just began to prepare for the fight

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of my life. The evening I
spent the majority of it. One would

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be driving, the other would have
the gun, and he would write me,

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that's very harsh word, and it's
a very harsh way to put it.

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I understand that I just don't know
how to sugarcoat what I went through

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or what I saw. In addition
to the assault, they showed me gang

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initiation papers. In those papers,
it detailed what they were supposed to do,

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which was kidnap, right, rob
and murder me period. I took

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it in stride. I mean,
what can you do? So I just

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stayed focused, hoping that it would
come to an end sooner than later.

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For the most part, they fulfilled
that checklist. They took me to a

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target and a Walmart where I was
forced to purchase television's. One brother would

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stay out in the truck with the
gun while I would go inside and the

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one outside would wait and make sure
that we came out in a timely manner,

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because if we didn't, he was
prepared to kill my boyfriend. It

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was nineteen ninety nine, so cell
phones weren't all that common. I had

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one, but I didn't carry it. So what I did have in my

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vehicle was an address book. In
there was family members and friends, their

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names, their addresses, phone numbers, and they had access to that.

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So anything that I did that evening, I did it willingly, not because

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it was something that I wanted to
do, but I did not want anyone

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else to be harmed because of something
I did or did not do. So

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many things happened that evening. We
were pulled over by a police officer.

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The guys. I was told,
obviously not to indicate anything was wrong or

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the police officer myself would end up
dead. So I sat and waited.

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As they didn't provide driver's license,
they gave conflicting information, and the police

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officer honestly had no reason to let
us go. I mean, you could

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see this skepticism in his eyes as
he was looking at the three of us

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and I remember the passenger his hand
going for the gun as the police officer

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paused. But by the grace of
God, he he let us go because

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little did he know, had he
not, neither he nor I would be

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alive to tell this story today.
So this went on for hours. I

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can't honestly tell you an exact time. I think I got off work about

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eight that evening and I got home
about two thirty in the morning. I

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have no clue why they decided to
let me go, other than I had

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begged and pleaded for my life for
a considerable amount of time. But when

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they did finally release me, they
drove south of town and pulled over on

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a highway. They told me I
was to not go to the cops.

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I was to not change my routine
because they would be watching me. They

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ripped out pages of my address book
to solidify this threat to the sphere.

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They jumped out, and I drove
home in shock, but I was relieved

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it was over. Oh my gosh, Brandy, I don't even know how

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you can actually just say all of
those words that comprise that story. It's

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just beyond anything anybody can imagine going
through. You know, I suppose other

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people have been through similar things or
maybe even worse. I don't know,

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but wow, Brandy, I just
really want to say thank you for sharing

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it. So, I mean the
way that you just shared, I almost

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felt like I was in the truck
with you. So I know you did

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press charges and I'll talk about that
in just a second here, but first

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I want to get to what did
you learn about yourself in that one horrific

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day. Well, for someone to
truly comprehend what I learned about myself,

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I think it is best to understand
a little of who I was before growing

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up. I was extremely shy.
I was a very timid child who literally

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cried at the drop of a hat. It didn't matter, happy, mad,

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sad. The tears fell, I
walked with my head and shoulders down,

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not in shame, but genuinely in
fear of rejection and disappointment, disbelief,

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all of those things. So I
believed that my tears and my emotions

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controlled me, and I lived with
those self imposed restraints for as long as

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I can remember. So on that
horrible day, sure, my tears spell

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just like they always did, but
I realized it did not interfere with my

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ability to fight it. Became clear
to me that my emotions did not hinder

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me. My thoughts, my emotions, my reactions. Everything I did that

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day saved me. I realized I'm
not weak, I'm a survivor, and

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I was a great There's no way
to describe that feeling. It was amazing.

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That is just so worth the price
of admission what you just said there,

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And we'll talk more about that here
in just a second, but let's

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grab our first break. Brandy,
I'm your host, Alice Cortez. We

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were on the air with Brandy Nice, an emerging speaker entering a new chapter

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for life, having recently begun her
journey and helping and encouraging struggling individuals.

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She joined today from Mason, Texas. We've been talking about her history and

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what she's gone through here. After
the break, we're going to talk about

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her emotional journey in her ongoing development
that's gotten where she is today. Stay

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with us, we'll be right back. Alice Cortez is a speaker and engagement

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and development catalyst. She designs and
delivers professional development, leadership and engagement workshops

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00:17:56.119 --> 00:18:02.279
and can bring her expertise to your
organization will help ignite meaningful development within your

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00:18:02.359 --> 00:18:07.519
workforce that will increase employee engagement,
performance and retention. To learn more or

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00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:11.960
to invite a lease to speak to
your organization, please visit her at www

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00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:15.640
dot Elise Cortez dot com. She
would welcome the opportunity to help get your

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00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:27.200
employees working on purpose. This is
working on Purpose with Elise Cortez. To

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00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:33.240
reach our program today, send an
email to Elise ali Se at Elise Cortez

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00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:44.119
dot com. Now back to working
on purpose. Thanks for staying with us,

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00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:45.880
and welcome back to working on purpose
if you're just joining us. My

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00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:49.200
guest is Brandy Nice. She's an
emerging speaker entering a new chapter of her

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life, having recently begun her journey
and helping and encouraging struggling to individuals.

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Brandy spent the next twenty years facing
fears, overcoming personal obstacles, and improving

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herself image After an atrocious event in
her late teens, She's navigated a successful

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career in the finance industry has discovered
a bigger calling for herself in service of

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her one precious life and all she's
lived through. She's now utilizing her passion

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and experiences to help facilitate healing and
empower others to overcome their own fears shamed

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out in daily trials. I'm your
host, Alis Fortez, so brandy before

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the break, you were sharing with
us just really what you went through and

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what you discovered about yourself, which
is phenomenal to be able to stand in

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that kind of power and understanding of
just how amazing you as an individual can

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have been your whole life and just
didn't really know until that moment. For

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this next segment, I want to
focus on your emotional journey and the ongoing

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development that you've been through since that
event. Before we get into that,

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I do want to surface that you
did press charges against those two men,

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and one of the things the detective
handling your case told you was that your

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ability to humanize yourself to these two
men actually helped save your life. Can

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you say a little bit more about
that. Yes. Throughout the course of

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the evening, everything that went on, no matter what it was, I

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attempted to communicate with them. I
told them about my parents and how much

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I loved them, and that I
wanted to go home to see them.

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I told them about my boyfriend,
like I said, that was cooking dinner.

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I told him how he was probably
missing, for missing me or even

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looking for me, even though it
was a lie. I told them that

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I had no hard feelings. I
understood they had a job to do,

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but that if they would let me
go, I would forget this ever happened.

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I guess I just wanted them to
see me for who I was,

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which based was a scared little girl
who wanted to run home to mommy and

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daddy. And I didn't want them
to just see me as another check mark

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on their list. That is phenomenal, Brandy, that you had the presence

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one to draw from frankly, your
intellect, to be able to rationalize telling

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something like that in such an even
tone, and to bring yourself into an

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intimate space with them where they could
hear that from you. I just I

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think, if that's not human,
if that's not emotional intelligence on steroids,

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I just don't know what is.
And you know, and what's funny is

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if you would have asked me twenty
years ago, I would have thought that

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was me being weak, But like
you're saying, it's whatever emotions were in

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me. They just told me,
this is what you need to do well.

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And this is where we go back
to what you've been saying to me

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that you really want to help your
audiences understand is the importance of mindset,

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right, It's just so important how
it is we situate things in our life,

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who we are the events in our
life. And this is one of

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the things we talked about in the
conversation, or the talk that I shared

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was we are the ultimate creators of
every part of meaning in our lives.

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We manufacture meaning and everything that we
do, so we get to decide what's

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what meaning a situation, a person, or an encounter is for us.

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Now, you have a different take
on your emotions than you did growing up.

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So you've said to me that you
were a very emotional child and that

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people just didn't know how to take
you or respond to your emotions when you're

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growing up. Well, you say
a little bit about that. I mean,

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you've shared a couple of stories with
me, But tell us what you

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mean by that. Well, my
childhood was an emotional roller coaster, no

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doubt, not because I went an
through anything horrendous or terrible, or because

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people were necessarily mean, but it's
just who I was. I remember at

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the age of four, when my
cousin used to come visit for the summer.

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He figured out that if he wanted
to make me cry, literally,

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all he had to do was point
his finger at me and I would burst

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into tears, and he thought that
was hilarious. That became the game that

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he played while he was there,
And that was just the standard. When

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I was at a young age,
it was. It was funny to everybody,

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it was we got a good laugh
out of it. But then as

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I got older, it seemed to
become more of an annoyance. When I

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would cry. People would roll their
eyes, not because they were bullies or

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they just weren't emotional and they didn't
understand me fully, which I accept now.

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But it has taken a lot to
get to this place I can only

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imagine. But I do want to
surface some of that because I really applaud

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Of course, I'm a person.
What do I do for a living is

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I do help people discover their passion
and purpose and I help them really develop

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further into who they can and are
meant to become. So ongoing development is

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important for me. It's everything for
me. And so after that awful encounter

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of yours at the age of eighteen, tender age of eighteen, by the

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way, you set out to really
put yourself on a path to develop your

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confidence and self image and continue your
journey of emotional development. Can you share

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a little bit about what that path
entailed. Yes, it most definitely was

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not an overnight process. It was
lengthy. It was catapulted by the detective

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that we've talked about. We've talked
about me pressing charges. I went through

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with that, and I could not
have asked for a more amazing woman to

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assist me. It was during that
time that she told me how strong I

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was, and I thought, Okay, here's this woman who has no idea

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who I was. She didn't know
how emotional I was growing up, or

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she just saw the demons that I
faced, and she believed me. She

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believed in me, and she stood
by my side and battled with me to

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fight these guys. And so it
was in that moment that I realized,

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Okay, here's this woman. She
saw me as strong, and I wanted

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to live up to that. I
wanted other people to see me as strong.

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So it led to me getting counseling
where I received tips for coping with

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anxiety, which I still have and
I still use those techniques like dim lit

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rooms and warm baths. I had
this unfamiliar sense of confidence, and it

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required a daily focus to maintain it. These two men had had control over

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a short period in my life,
and I was determined that they were not

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going to get a second more,
and which I know, obviously I can't

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maintain one hundred percent control of my
life, but that was what I wanted

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to aim for going forward, and
so I went step by step. I

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started setting small goals which I adjusted
as I achieved. I stayed focused with

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the encouragement of my family and those
around me, and basically, through baby

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steps, I was able to define
the person that I had become today.

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You're reminding me so much, Brandy, of my fascination with resilience and inquiry

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around human development and well being.
Certainly, and what I've always been fascinated

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with with the idea of resilience,
and you're showcasing it beautifully, is that

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where you see young people develop resiliences, they might have really an atrocious upbringing

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or have awful things happen in them
have happened to you, But if one

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adult believes and sees that person as
being worthy and seeing them for as strong,

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it makes all the difference in the
world and they can then in that

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instance develop resilience. And it seems
like that's what's happened for you. Absolutely,

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I could not have defined it better. What a difference it makes.

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Well, So when I think about
really all you've gone through me what your

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journey has, I think really produced
a tremendous amount of insight and wisdom in

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you, And I think that's going
to be a very very powerful contribution to

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00:27:56.759 --> 00:28:00.279
your audiences as you continue speaking.
You know, we all go through awful,

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atrocious things. I hope that none
of they're not on the level that

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00:28:04.119 --> 00:28:07.240
you've described for us. But it's
how we respond to those things you and

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I talked about. It's how we
respond to these things that really makes the

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00:28:11.079 --> 00:28:15.039
difference. So when you're out speaking
or even writing, I know you're writing

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00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:18.640
articles as well, what is it
that you're really trying to impart to your

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audiences? What do you want them
to get from your story? Life is

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a beautiful thing, but it may
not always be filled with what we see

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as beauty. We all encounter hardships, struggles, or difficulties quite often,

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and thankfully not everyone is going to
see what I have seen. But Unfortunately,

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there are people who have seen worse, much worse. I believe what

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it all boils down to is we're
different individuals facing different battles, but we

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have at least one thing in common. We have the ability to choose how

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00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:07.839
we react and how we move forward. Many people, and including myself,

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especially myself, we have a tendency
to become prisoners and what is actually a

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00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:18.960
prison that we have created all on
our own. Did I ask those men

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to do what they did to me? Absolutely not. Do I believe that

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I deserve to be happy and to
take advantage of my one precious life.

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Yes, I do, and so
does everyone else. Well, that is

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00:29:36.119 --> 00:29:38.759
incredible. And what I know about
the world and why I'm doing the work

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00:29:38.759 --> 00:29:41.759
that I'm doing, Brandy, is
I don't care where you are in the

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world. You need inspiration, You
need something to help you in your journey

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00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:48.880
to get where you want to go
next. And I think that you are

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00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:52.640
that guiding light for a lot of
people. Unfortunately, a lot of people

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00:29:52.640 --> 00:30:00.680
in the world who desperately need to
hear your message. It's ad to think

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00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:06.400
about the number of people out there
that have been through something similar, but

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00:30:06.599 --> 00:30:14.599
I truly hope that whether it be
sharing or listening or whatever it may be.

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00:30:14.799 --> 00:30:18.559
I just hope they can find a
piece of happiness and a piece of

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00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:22.279
hope. Well, I think that
they can, if when you're in front

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00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:26.160
of them, or whether whether you're
speaking or writing to them, I think

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00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:30.440
they can. And on that note, let's grab our last our last break.

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I'm Elise Cortez, your host.
We're on the air with Brandy Nice.

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00:30:33.319 --> 00:30:36.599
She's an emerging speaker entering a new
chapter of her life, having recently

368
00:30:36.599 --> 00:30:40.480
begun her journey and helping and encouraging
struggling individuals. She jods a day from

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00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:42.319
Mason, Texas. After the break, we're going to hear more about her

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00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:56.559
writing and speaking platform. Stay with
us, we'll be right back. Elis

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00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:03.079
Cortez is a speaker and engagement and
development catalyst. She designs and delivers professional

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00:31:03.119 --> 00:31:07.279
development, leadership and engagement workshops and
can bring her expertise to your organization.

373
00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:12.559
She will help ignite meaningful development within
your workforce that will increase employee engagement,

374
00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:17.640
performance and retention. To learn more
or to invite a lease to speak to

375
00:31:17.680 --> 00:31:22.079
your organization, please visit her at
www dot Elise Cortez dot com. She

376
00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:33.119
would welcome the opportunity to help get
your employees working on purpose. This is

377
00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:38.079
working on Purpose with Elise Cortez.
To reach our program today, send an

378
00:31:38.079 --> 00:31:45.519
email to Elise Alis at Elise Cortez
dot com. Now back to working on

379
00:31:45.559 --> 00:32:00.079
purpose. Thanks for seeing with us, and welcome after working on Purpose.

380
00:32:00.119 --> 00:32:04.000
If you're just tuning in, my
guest is Brandy Niece. She's an emerging

381
00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:07.319
speaker entering a new chapter of her
life, having recently begun her journey and

382
00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:12.279
helping and encouraging struggling individuals. Brandy
spent the next twenty years of her life

383
00:32:12.319 --> 00:32:15.839
after an atrocious event, facing fears, overcoming personal obstacles, and improving her

384
00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:20.640
self image. She has navigated a
successful career in the finance industry and has

385
00:32:20.680 --> 00:32:23.559
discovered a bigger calling for herself and
service of her one precious life and all

386
00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:29.039
she's lived through. She's now utilizing
her passionate experiences to help facilitate healing and

387
00:32:29.079 --> 00:32:32.039
empower others to overcome their own fears, shame, doubt, and daily trials.

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00:32:32.279 --> 00:32:37.599
I'm your host, Alice Cortez,
So Brandy, for this next segment

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here, I wanted to really showcase
how you've really stepped out into a new

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place in your life. And I
just so applaud this. And you said

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00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:53.200
when we began speaking that you wanted
to to stop being ashamed of your own

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life and your story and share it
because you recognize that when you did share

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00:32:58.279 --> 00:33:00.400
it, not only did it help
yourself, but it would help bthers.

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I maybe have gone through something similar. And I just think that is such

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00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:07.680
such a gift, and it really
is standing in purpose. So can you

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00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:13.279
help us understand what's it like to
be working from a place of purpose?

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00:33:15.160 --> 00:33:21.880
Well, for so long I took
pride in what I considered to be achievements,

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00:33:22.039 --> 00:33:24.720
and yes I have, I've come
leaps and bounds from where I was.

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00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:30.400
But then just in the short couple
of months that where we've been visiting,

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it's unbelievable how much my mood has
changed and my outlook on life is

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00:33:35.920 --> 00:33:38.559
altered in a great way. And
I know it may sound corny, but

402
00:33:38.640 --> 00:33:44.039
I feel like my body is on
fire in a good way. I wake

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00:33:44.119 --> 00:33:45.480
up in the morning and I'm ready
to get out of bed, and I'm

404
00:33:45.640 --> 00:33:50.759
energized, and I'm motivated, and
I'm excited, and I'm just ready to

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00:33:50.839 --> 00:33:54.599
chase my dreams and help others.
How beautiful is that? Right? I

406
00:33:54.599 --> 00:33:59.279
Mean, that's why, that's why
I think it's so important branded to go

407
00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:02.279
after It's worth digging for our purpose. It's worth going to go look for

408
00:34:02.359 --> 00:34:07.280
it and growing it because it does
give us that fire and that zest and

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00:34:07.360 --> 00:34:12.880
that passion, and it also gives
us this crazy confidence to do things that

410
00:34:12.920 --> 00:34:15.760
we wouldn't otherwise I think we should
be doing, like sharing our story and

411
00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:23.000
right, it's amazing the power of
purpose. Absolutely, I'm on top of

412
00:34:23.199 --> 00:34:29.840
making me a happier person. And
I've been told by friends, you know,

413
00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:32.400
they can see this renewed sense of
passion all my face, So it

414
00:34:32.760 --> 00:34:37.039
not only does it make me happy, but it makes those around me happy

415
00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:39.079
well. And that's one of the
things that I say, and I've even

416
00:34:39.079 --> 00:34:43.199
got on my website, Brandy,
is that this whole thing about purpose is

417
00:34:43.559 --> 00:34:49.159
one it makes us a much more
fulfilled person individual, But then it just

418
00:34:49.239 --> 00:34:52.719
cascades to everybody we touched, and
so our immediate loved ones, our families,

419
00:34:52.880 --> 00:34:57.880
are our significant others, and then
into our communities, certainly our employers,

420
00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:00.679
who over else we serve in terms
of our client as the community at

421
00:35:00.760 --> 00:35:05.159
large, and really the ripple effect
can go into the state and in the

422
00:35:05.239 --> 00:35:07.239
nation. I mean, it's it's
incredible what happens when we work from purpose.

423
00:35:07.760 --> 00:35:15.039
Absolutely, So what about that immediate
family for you? What about your

424
00:35:15.119 --> 00:35:17.000
kids? Are you showing up differently
for your kids? Then what do they

425
00:35:17.039 --> 00:35:24.440
see? Well? Until now,
I guess I didn't realize how volatile my

426
00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:30.679
mood was. I was so driven
and focused on this self improvement, making

427
00:35:30.719 --> 00:35:37.719
myself a better person. I wanted
to heal, and but my highs were

428
00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:40.440
really high and my lows were really
low, even just a few months ago.

429
00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:45.960
But now when setbacks happen, they
don't rattle me like they did before.

430
00:35:46.599 --> 00:35:52.440
And my kids have certainly noticed.
Something will happen, milk will spill,

431
00:35:52.639 --> 00:35:57.239
or something a mishap will happen,
and they'll look at me and I'll

432
00:35:57.280 --> 00:36:01.079
just smile and they think, who
is this lady? And I mean,

433
00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:06.039
I've always felt confident as a mother, not perfect by any means, but

434
00:36:06.119 --> 00:36:09.679
confident. I worked really hard to
keep my healing process separate. But I

435
00:36:09.719 --> 00:36:15.199
guess I just didn't realize how transparent
I was with them. And so it's

436
00:36:15.239 --> 00:36:20.800
a good feeling for them to see
the happiness and it to rub off on

437
00:36:20.840 --> 00:36:24.119
them. It is so great what
I'm hearing and what you're saying, Brandy,

438
00:36:24.159 --> 00:36:28.000
is it just seems like things are
just more of an even keel,

439
00:36:28.159 --> 00:36:30.199
still high, but it more of
an even keel. Is that what you're

440
00:36:30.239 --> 00:36:34.880
saying? Yes, exactly, Yeah, yeah, that is so great.

441
00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:37.400
What a gift. You know,
this this purpose thing. And you know,

442
00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:39.559
it's funny every once andone want to
go out and talk about what it

443
00:36:39.639 --> 00:36:43.840
is that I do, and people
are sometimes. In fact, I've had

444
00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:45.239
people say I just don't get it. I don't get it. I'm like,

445
00:36:45.280 --> 00:36:49.039
I understand it's not for everybody,
but if you get it, it

446
00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:54.559
really can make all the difference in
your life. Absolutely, you're just you

447
00:36:54.599 --> 00:37:00.119
feel like you can do anything when
you're filled with this excite and this passion.

448
00:37:01.639 --> 00:37:05.159
Yeah, and you know, that's
where we start to make a difference.

449
00:37:05.159 --> 00:37:07.360
And so that's where when you know, I don't remember is talking about

450
00:37:07.360 --> 00:37:10.320
this in the talk that I gave
to your group. But that's when we

451
00:37:10.360 --> 00:37:15.760
really become pretty irresistible. It's really
hard to resist somebody who's passionate about what

452
00:37:15.800 --> 00:37:19.599
they're what they're doing and what they're
saying. It's hard to go in and

453
00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:22.039
not really think an opt out of
that, right, it's just hard to

454
00:37:22.079 --> 00:37:28.039
resist that so so literally, and
you think about, somebody gave me this

455
00:37:28.079 --> 00:37:30.559
analogy. Okay, so there's a
bowl of fruit, and when you have

456
00:37:30.679 --> 00:37:34.920
that one piece of fruit that's not
good, it tends to rub off.

457
00:37:35.719 --> 00:37:37.639
But I mean it's the same thing
with happiness though, like let's put a

458
00:37:37.639 --> 00:37:43.599
positive spin on it. If you're
happy and you're doing something good, that

459
00:37:43.719 --> 00:37:49.639
rubs off too, no doubt,
And to that, absolutely that's why I

460
00:37:49.679 --> 00:37:52.679
do the work that I do.
For sure. In fact, I'll just

461
00:37:52.679 --> 00:37:55.320
say really quickly, and we talk
about one precious life. You know,

462
00:37:55.679 --> 00:38:00.960
I just literally a few days ago
my mother their past and it was good,

463
00:38:00.039 --> 00:38:05.000
she was she was ready. But
it also really brings into bear that

464
00:38:05.199 --> 00:38:07.519
we really do just have one precious
life. And I got to do the

465
00:38:07.559 --> 00:38:13.280
eulogy, Brandy, and to be
able to bear witness to the magnificence of

466
00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:17.079
my mother's seventy three years was fantastic. But that it goes back to what's

467
00:38:17.119 --> 00:38:21.199
the lens you want to put on
this, right, And a eulogy is,

468
00:38:21.199 --> 00:38:24.880
by its definition, a good story, and I think everybody benefits from

469
00:38:24.920 --> 00:38:30.639
a good story. Absolutely. That
makes me. Think about one of your

470
00:38:30.679 --> 00:38:34.440
guests on your show, The Green
Burial Forget Me, and I can't remember

471
00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:37.400
her name, I do. It's
Elizabeth Fournier. I talked to her when

472
00:38:37.400 --> 00:38:39.079
I was when I was up here
in Oregon. She she's I told her

473
00:38:39.079 --> 00:38:43.679
what was going on. Yes,
she's magnificent. Yes, And she encouraged

474
00:38:44.360 --> 00:38:49.880
the listeners to write their own eulogy? And what have you done to this

475
00:38:49.920 --> 00:38:52.760
point? And it just makes you
want to do more so you have more

476
00:38:52.800 --> 00:38:57.039
to tell? Well? And that's
right. And to that end, I

477
00:38:57.079 --> 00:39:00.159
want to get to what it is
that you're conveying to your writings. And

478
00:39:00.199 --> 00:39:04.159
we talked about you say that this
is not easy, that you know life

479
00:39:04.199 --> 00:39:07.440
is not easy, you will encounter
hardships and obstacles. But there's no part

480
00:39:07.440 --> 00:39:10.639
of your message that I think is
really important and I'd love for you to

481
00:39:10.679 --> 00:39:14.719
expand just a little bit on it. But it's the notion of healing from

482
00:39:14.760 --> 00:39:17.159
trauma and the hope that comes along
with that. Will you say more about

483
00:39:17.840 --> 00:39:23.000
about that and why it's so important
for you to share that message? Yes,

484
00:39:24.159 --> 00:39:29.880
As you said, I don't want
anyone to feel like I believe it's

485
00:39:29.880 --> 00:39:34.840
a simple concept. I don't buy
any means think that someone is going to

486
00:39:34.880 --> 00:39:38.119
hear this story and they're going to
immediately just turn over a new leaf and

487
00:39:38.159 --> 00:39:44.159
be happy forever. I mean,
I can hope that that's their happiness.

488
00:39:44.280 --> 00:39:49.480
Is that simple, But I'm realistic, so I know from experience that there's

489
00:39:49.679 --> 00:39:55.239
nothing easy about it. It involves
learning to love yourself, believing in who

490
00:39:55.320 --> 00:40:00.880
you are and who you can be. It involves retraining the way you think

491
00:40:00.920 --> 00:40:07.800
in terms of accepting and responding to
adversity. And it includes surrounding yourself with

492
00:40:07.960 --> 00:40:14.880
encouragers and uplifters. And finally,
it means maintaining focus, which is difficult

493
00:40:14.920 --> 00:40:20.559
to do as we've mentioned, and
as much as I would love to be

494
00:40:20.599 --> 00:40:23.199
a mentor or volunteer, I can't
do that for every single person that I

495
00:40:23.320 --> 00:40:30.679
encounter. But I really hope that
in sharing my story, individuals will find

496
00:40:30.800 --> 00:40:35.880
commonalities that give them a needed reassurance
that they can do the same, even

497
00:40:35.920 --> 00:40:38.559
if their situation isn't exactly the same. I hope they can take that core

498
00:40:38.639 --> 00:40:45.519
concept. Most importantly, I just
want anyone and everyone who is struggling to

499
00:40:45.639 --> 00:40:51.719
know there is hope out there.
I got so present to something as you

500
00:40:51.719 --> 00:40:53.960
were speaking, Brandy, and that
was that. You know, when somebody

501
00:40:54.000 --> 00:40:59.280
hears maybe a message just slightly differently
than they had before, Like maybe you

502
00:40:59.360 --> 00:41:04.199
heard when I was speaking about therefence
between management and leadership, it just wasn't

503
00:41:04.239 --> 00:41:07.840
opening, right. I got the
idea that you standing when you're out speaking

504
00:41:07.880 --> 00:41:13.320
new audiences as you do, and
when they're reading your articles and they realize

505
00:41:13.360 --> 00:41:16.079
that here's someone who's gone through something
really atrocious like maybe I have, Like

506
00:41:16.119 --> 00:41:19.559
they might be thinking, this is
kind of like what I went through.

507
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:23.760
And she's standing in front of me
and she's she's helping me up. It's

508
00:41:23.800 --> 00:41:28.280
like there's a thread of connection.
Now they're connected to you, and it's

509
00:41:28.320 --> 00:41:30.599
like you're giving them a bolt of
energy and saying, look, I'm giving

510
00:41:30.599 --> 00:41:32.880
you a hand up, just like
the detective did for you. That's what

511
00:41:32.920 --> 00:41:37.119
I'm getting. Whant to hear you
talk, That's all I could hope for.

512
00:41:37.320 --> 00:41:43.880
That that would be a dream come
true. Wow, Well, you're

513
00:41:43.920 --> 00:41:45.840
already out there doing it. You're
already starting to share your message, and

514
00:41:46.719 --> 00:41:53.559
you've got you've got articles you've submitted
out for admission, and so I you

515
00:41:53.599 --> 00:41:55.920
know, we talked before about Yeah, you could be a volunteer, you

516
00:41:55.960 --> 00:42:00.440
could be a mentor, and that
will certainly help. But why do you

517
00:42:00.559 --> 00:42:02.760
think this work as a speaker and
a writer is so important in the world

518
00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:08.000
for you? From your manage point, well, from a personal standpoint,

519
00:42:08.639 --> 00:42:15.119
it has been and continues to be
a very vital part of my healing and

520
00:42:15.280 --> 00:42:21.360
learning process. As for the impact
or importance to the rest of the world,

521
00:42:23.320 --> 00:42:28.559
no one will ever truly know just
how a message will be received,

522
00:42:29.079 --> 00:42:32.480
whether it's speaking or writing, until
it's shared, and until you see that

523
00:42:32.559 --> 00:42:37.559
reaction, and you know, as
you and I have talked about that message

524
00:42:37.559 --> 00:42:42.800
you share, it may not be
for everyone. However, I believe when

525
00:42:42.840 --> 00:42:47.199
you share your message of in my
case it's a message of happiness or hope,

526
00:42:47.800 --> 00:42:52.679
a message of healing or even just
improving self image or giving yourself the

527
00:42:52.800 --> 00:43:00.880
confidence needed to chase your dreams,
well, it then gives even just a

528
00:43:00.159 --> 00:43:06.559
handful of people of voice. And
that's that's so worth the effort, and

529
00:43:06.719 --> 00:43:12.280
that's exactly what I hope to do. So I have two thoughts to that,

530
00:43:12.400 --> 00:43:15.760
two reactions. One is more seriously, the one is much more lighthearted.

531
00:43:15.880 --> 00:43:22.320
So first I'll say that in my
work, I'm constantly reading and devouring

532
00:43:22.360 --> 00:43:28.639
in literature around my world, around
purpose while being inspiration, passion, purpose

533
00:43:28.880 --> 00:43:31.239
and Aaron Hurst is well known for
his work in the purpose space, and

534
00:43:31.360 --> 00:43:36.199
he says that for something to qualify
as a purpose, it has to have

535
00:43:36.320 --> 00:43:39.400
three components to it. One,
whatever you're doing has to be in service

536
00:43:39.519 --> 00:43:45.880
of someone or some one's much bigger
than you. And you're certainly doing that

537
00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:49.559
when you go out and speak.
Two, in the in the act of

538
00:43:50.760 --> 00:43:54.440
providing your being in step with your
purpose, you are personally growing yourself,

539
00:43:54.480 --> 00:44:00.719
which you said just before. And
three in so doing, you are creating

540
00:44:00.760 --> 00:44:05.239
a community. And I think that
if you look at what you're up to

541
00:44:05.400 --> 00:44:07.119
here, Brandy, then you're according
to Aaron Hurst, and I would agree

542
00:44:07.159 --> 00:44:13.840
with him, you are absolutely living
and working from purpose. That the word

543
00:44:13.920 --> 00:44:17.039
community, it's that's so important to
me because I think I just want to

544
00:44:17.199 --> 00:44:27.639
provide an environment where these struggling individuals
feel comfortable to to come together and heal

545
00:44:27.800 --> 00:44:32.000
and grow and live on purpose.
As we've been talking about. Well,

546
00:44:32.079 --> 00:44:35.039
the second thing that I was going
to say that came to mind, that's

547
00:44:35.079 --> 00:44:37.639
a little bit more more jovial,
if you will. Is it reminds me

548
00:44:37.800 --> 00:44:43.800
too of a joke that one of
my favorite authors likes to talk about,

549
00:44:43.840 --> 00:44:46.480
and he talks about how this gentleman
hops in this cab and he tells the

550
00:44:46.519 --> 00:44:49.960
cab driver hurry up, step on
it, go as fast as you can.

551
00:44:50.639 --> 00:44:52.719
And the cab driver says, where
are we going? He goes,

552
00:44:52.840 --> 00:44:59.880
it doesn't matter. I'm needed everywhere. Isn't that great? And unfortunately,

553
00:45:00.119 --> 00:45:04.119
Brandy, you're needed everywhere. You
know you are. You're needed everywhere,

554
00:45:05.280 --> 00:45:07.199
So that's getting right. You get
in the gab and you tell them to

555
00:45:07.199 --> 00:45:13.039
step on it because you've got places
to go, So I'm going to use

556
00:45:13.159 --> 00:45:15.840
that. Isn't that great? I
mean, it's just it's important that as

557
00:45:15.880 --> 00:45:20.159
we talk about such a serious topic
that we can also recognize that there's still

558
00:45:20.280 --> 00:45:27.119
room for humor in this space.
So as we come to a close of

559
00:45:27.159 --> 00:45:29.760
the show, Brandy, I don't
you you know, because we've talked about

560
00:45:29.760 --> 00:45:30.679
it, and you've heard some of
my other episodes, but I always like

561
00:45:30.760 --> 00:45:35.000
to give my guests the last word. And you've already shared so much with

562
00:45:35.159 --> 00:45:37.199
us. But what else would you
like to leave with our listeners as a

563
00:45:37.239 --> 00:45:44.079
parting thought? Well, I'm one
of those that likes to scroll through the

564
00:45:44.159 --> 00:45:47.960
Internet and I find inspirational quotes that
keep me going, and I found one

565
00:45:49.039 --> 00:45:52.559
that was perfect to share. I'm
not taking credit for it by any means,

566
00:45:52.679 --> 00:45:58.880
but I thought it was just great. So miracles start to happen when

567
00:45:58.920 --> 00:46:04.840
you give as much to your dreams
as you do to your fears. Isn't

568
00:46:04.880 --> 00:46:08.039
that awesome? I mean, if
you think about everything that you do,

569
00:46:08.199 --> 00:46:14.079
every task, every emotion, everything
that you do has it involves energy,

570
00:46:14.199 --> 00:46:17.440
and so why not use that energy
to do something great? That is a

571
00:46:17.719 --> 00:46:22.840
fantastic way to finish. Brandy,
Thank you so much, wow, and

572
00:46:22.000 --> 00:46:27.039
thank you again for coming into my
life, letting me be part of yours,

573
00:46:27.280 --> 00:46:30.119
and for going out and doing the
work that you're doing to share your

574
00:46:30.199 --> 00:46:36.639
story with audiences and readers who desperately
need to hear your story and be uplifted

575
00:46:36.719 --> 00:46:40.079
by hope and the possibility to really
chase their dreams. Thank you for joining

576
00:46:40.159 --> 00:46:44.599
us and sharing as you have.
Thank you, Thank you for the spark

577
00:46:44.760 --> 00:46:49.400
that you've created in my life and
for continuing to support me. It's an

578
00:46:49.440 --> 00:46:52.400
honor and a privilege, Brandy.
If you want to contact Brandy needs to

579
00:46:52.480 --> 00:46:55.639
invite her to speak to your group. Reach her via email. What's the

580
00:46:55.679 --> 00:47:00.960
best way to email you, Brandy, I'll spell it out. It's b

581
00:47:01.480 --> 00:47:09.719
r a n d y dot n
dot n e e ce at gmail dot

582
00:47:09.840 --> 00:47:16.440
com. One more time, Brandy, b r a n d y dot

583
00:47:16.599 --> 00:47:22.960
n dot n e e ce at
gmail dot com. Awesome, great listeners.

584
00:47:22.960 --> 00:47:25.960
So we want to reach her to
engage your in conversation to our inviters

585
00:47:25.960 --> 00:47:30.119
speak, that's the best way to
find her. As two programs last week,

586
00:47:30.159 --> 00:47:32.800
if you missed the show, you
can always catch we recorded podcast.

587
00:47:32.920 --> 00:47:36.559
We were on the air with Sean
Anderson. He is a number one ranked

588
00:47:36.639 --> 00:47:40.119
motivational author, unlimited thinker, and
lifetime entrepreneur with a history of inspiring others.

589
00:47:40.480 --> 00:47:45.760
We kicked off twenty nineteen by talking
about the importance and glee of pursuing

590
00:47:45.840 --> 00:47:47.840
your next the next thing in your
life that has you bolting out of bed

591
00:47:47.880 --> 00:47:51.639
in the morning, running strong after
your dream, of what you can do

592
00:47:51.760 --> 00:47:54.000
to make sure that next actually comes
to fruition. Next week, we'll be

593
00:47:54.079 --> 00:48:00.559
on the air with Rachel Klisold talking
about her ability to take something from our

594
00:48:00.639 --> 00:48:05.239
lives from trauma and bring it into
the space of healing and the magic comes

595
00:48:05.280 --> 00:48:07.920
with that. Remember that work is
at one third of our life, so

596
00:48:07.159 --> 00:48:16.119
let's work on Purpose. We hope
you've enjoyed this week's program. Be sure

597
00:48:16.159 --> 00:48:21.360
to tune in to Working on Purpose, featuring your host, Alice Cortez,

598
00:48:21.760 --> 00:48:25.880
each week on the Voice America Empowerment
Channel. This week, find your life's

599
00:48:25.880 --> 00:48:28.320
purpose at work